


Unbound Hearts

by Athena02



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Absolute fluff, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And More Fluff, Clexa, Clexa Love Week, F/F, Fluff and Smut, Grounder Culture, Hunting, Jason broke all his toys so now I get to play with them, Lexa Lives, Marriage, NSFW, Romance, Tattoos, Trigedasleng, and feelings, no one dies, seventeen years of writing fic and a friend finally convinces me to write something explicit, this is really just sheer fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-10 17:40:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7854718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Athena02/pseuds/Athena02
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lexa's smiles are a rare thing. Her laughter is even more so. When Clarke sees both, she promises herself she'd do anything to see it again. Lexa, for her part, finds that Clarke is the cause for those smiles, which become a little less rare as the summer wears on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Council

**Author's Note:**

  * For [My_Inner_Circle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Inner_Circle/gifts).



> Comments, critiques, everything and anything welcome in the comments. You can find me on tumblr @msmayhem1515
> 
> Thank you to everyone who encourages me through their comments and thoughtful feedback, including asking what it would have been like if Lexa had laughed more...

Unbound Hearts  
Athena02

xXxXxXx

The first time it happened, Clarke nearly missed it.

"These trade deals do not favor our clans in the slightest!" The Azgeda ambassador growled, banging his fist on the arm of his chair.

"They are not supposed to favor anyone," the Sangkru ambassador muttered, far too loudly. The throne room echoed with a low hum of bickering, like an upended bees' nest. Clarke's shoulders slumped in her chair at the end of the row, and she resisted the urge to massage her temples with her hands out of sheer frustration.

"Em pleni!" Lexa barked, immediately silencing the arguing ambassadors. It was deep within the dog days of summer, and the heat that had been building throughout the morning's meetings only served to aggravate the already boiling tempers of those assembled.

Lexa surveyed the room, her eyes hard with admonishment, but then softening. "You have worked hard for weeks, ambassadors. All clans have made concessions in order to have a strong agreement. It would be a disappointment to all for everything to fall apart now, so close to an agreement." 

There was a long stretch of quiet as the ambassadors exchanged glances. 

The Floukru ambassador broke the silence, standing to face his Azgeda counterpart. "I have heard many times-and not just from Azgeda--" the Floukru emissary stared at each ambassador in turn, "--that Floukru are a bunch of motherless, drunken river rats." Clarke heard the awkward scuff of feet around the room, as some avoided the ambassador's gaze. "As the representative of my people, I feel I should say that these are baseless lies…except for the drunken part. That one may be true." His face broke out into an enormous grin and he chuckled.

The awkwardly hostile feeling in the room lifted immediately, and Clarke found herself laughing along with all of the others. It was easy to miss, but Clarke saw the corner of Lexa's lips slant upwards in the slightest hint of a mirthful smile.

"Thus," the Floukru ambassador continued, with an exaggerated flourish, "in the interest of answering the needs of my people while still securing an agreement with my Azgeda allies, I propose a trade. Floukru will cut one-third of the cost of moving Azgeda goods south by the water routes, if Azgeda will provide each vessel carrying their goods a cask of their specialty vodka. What say you, Ambassador?" He stepped forward halfway to the other man, extending his hand.

All eyes in the room turned to the Azgeda man. He sat for a moment, chewing on his lip in thought before he stood. He closed the distance to the Floukru ambassador and grasped his forearm with a grave look. "We have a deal, Floukru." He dropped his grip on the man's arm, and reached into the inner lapel of his coat. He pulled out a flask and, after unscrewing the top, extended it to the Floukru man with a grin. "Let's share a drink then, Ambassador; I won't charge you for this one, to celebrate today's historic agreement."

The room erupted into cheers as the Floukru ambassador pulled from the flask, and all of the gathered ambassadors turned to each other to offer congratulations. Clarke smiled at the Yujleda ambassador to her left, offering a brief handshake and kind words, but she quickly turned her attention back to the front of the room. 

Gone was Lexa's tense posture from earlier, and she leaned back against the throne, completely relaxed. Her eyes were bright as she surveyed the room. It was clear to Clarke that--even for one brief moment--she was allowing herself to fully enjoy the outcome of her diplomatic efforts, the growing realization that this previously impossible vision of peace that she had nurtured was beginning to come to life.

Lexa's gaze met Clarke's from across the room. The grin that had been ghosting at the corners of her lips burst into full bloom, and she laughed brightly. She looked radiantly triumphant, and Clarke couldn't help but share that same feeling, magnified with the sense of pride in her lover's achievement. Seeing Lexa in that unguarded moment, with naked joy spilling out from the cracks in the outer armor she always kept in place, was infinitely rare and precious to Clarke. And she knew that she would do anything to see it again.

\-----  
Translations:

"Em pleni! "= [That's] enough!


	2. The Hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke finds out while on a hunting trip that Lexa can be a patient teacher, but the summer temperature isn't the hottest thing about the forest... (NSFW)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments, critiques, everything and anything welcome in the comments. You can find me on tumblr @msmayhem1515

Clarke stared intently down the shaft of the arrow she had nocked. Her fingers ached and a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face, but she held onto her concentration.

A few yards in front of her, a fat turkey waddled through the undergrowth, pecking at morsels just underneath the topsoil. She breathed out, held her breath, flexed her fingers, and let the arrow fly…

...where it buried itself into the dirt an arm's length from her prey, who promptly scattered off into the brush in a harried burst of noise and feathers.

"Dammit!" Clarke exclaimed, letting her shoulders slump as she lowered her bow. She leaned tiredly against the trunk of the tree next to her and swiped at the sweat threatening to drip into her eyes. 

There was a rustle from the tree above, and then a soft thump as Lexa gracefully dropped from her perch in the branches overhead where she had been observing.

"You jerked at the last minute," she said, stalking over to the arrow and plucking it out of the ground, shaking the soil off of the arrowhead.

"I don't think I did," Clarke grumped. "Breathe in, breathe out, shoot. Just like you said."

"Sha, Clarke, but remember the rest." Lexa's tone was even and calm, the same gentle cadence she used when teaching the Natblida. She returned to Clarke, steps soft on the forest floor as she spun the arrow in her fingers.

"I didn't think shooting a bow and arrow could be so complicated," the sky woman confessed, slinging the bow over her shoulder. "It didn't seem that way in Earth Skills class."

"Did they let you shoot arrows on the Ark?" Lexa's small smile only reinforced the fact that this was another one of those questions she liked asking when she already knew the answer. But unlike when she asked such questions in council as Heda, her eyes shone with gentle amusement at her lover's predicament. 

"No," Clarke huffed, "Something about a living environment separated from the deadly, freezing vacuum of space by only a thin metal wall kept us from practicing that…"

The corners of Lexa's mouth twitched as she tamped down on a teasing grin. "You Skaikru have so much to learn still. Trikru children are taught how to use a bow not long after they learn to walk."

"Do you also teach people how to keep from melting in the summer? That might be useful," Clarke asked, wiping her brow off again with her sleeve. She and Lexa were both dressed in light armor; homespun Trikru hunting clothes in muted colors, with light chestplates and bracers made of toughened leather. Despite their lighter clothing, the summer heat was still oppressive.

Lexa's smile broke wide open, and she ducked her head almost shyly, busying her hands with placing the arrow into the quiver at her back next to her own slung shortbow. Clarke felt her own heart trip within her chest at the sight. Here, in the forest, without the trappings of her station as Heda--the formal armor, the warpaint, the bodyguards--Lexa seemed unreserved and more free to be herself. Clarke found that it made her almost impossibly more beautiful.

The brunette lifted her chin and her green eyes met Clarke's blue ones invitingly. "Come with me. I'll show you."

They walked side by side through the forest, weaving among the tree trunks and undergrowth. Golden sunlight filtered in from the canopy above, dappling the faint path they followed. Beside her, Clarke occasionally felt the brush of Lexa's hand against her own, just a gentle touch, as if reminding Clarke that she was there and vice versa. For a moment, Clarke was reminded of the moment they had marched through another forest side-by-side on their way to conquer The Mountain, but this time joy and love bubbled up from within their hearts, rather than fear and grim determination. 

As they walked, Clarke heard the sound of running water gradually grow louder over the usual noise of the forest. The trees thinned, and they emerged out into the open space surrounding a river. The chest-deep water was crystal clear, and had carved a spacious natural swimming pool into the large rocks which created a lip alongside the river, their surfaces worn completely smooth. A narrow band of sand ran from the rocks to the tree line where they stood. It was breathtakingly beautiful and Clarke couldn't help but stare, stepping closer to the water until the soles of her boots just toed the line where the flat surface of the rock met the sandy bank.

Behind her, Lexa shifted, settling her open hand gently into the small of Clarke's back. She leaned against Clarke, her chest lightly pressing against the blonde woman's shoulder blade as she raised her left hand to point across the river.

"Do you see that tree? The one with the large knot in the trunk?" Clarke could feel Lexa's cheek press against her hair, her breath tracing over her skin as she whispered. "Draw your bow."

Clarke swallowed, shifting the bow from her shoulder into her hands. Her eyes were focused on the tree across the river, but every other sense was consumed with the feeling of Lexa's body against hers. The faint feel of her chest as she breathed, pressed against Clarke's back. The heat radiating from her palm against her back, even through her clothes. Clarke could feel a different form of heat building low in her belly that had nothing to do with the summer temperature. 

"Remember your stance. Plant yourself into the earth, like a tree. Let it keep you steady." Lexa repositioned slightly, nudging Clarke's feet with her own, widening her stance. Her hands gripped Clarke's hips, rotating her slightly and very gently pushing her down into the earth. It made Clarke feel firm, grounded, planted in place. "Let your body become one with the ground," Lexa whispered, "feel the connection flow up from your legs, through your body, into your hands, and then into the bow." Her fingers traced from Clarke's hips, up her sides, around the curve of her shoulders, and down her forearms. Her hands came to rest lightly over the sky girl's. She tightened the grip of her left hand over Clarke's, and they both firmly grasped the bow's grip. With her fingers bracketing Clarke's right wrist, Lexa brought their hands over Clarke's right shoulder, plucking an arrow from the quiver and nocking it against the grip. 

Clarke's body hummed with the nearness, intimacy, and deliberateness of Lexa's movements. She bit her bottom lip, trying to focus as her body threatened to betray how badly she was affected by the other woman's proximity. 

"Breathe, Klark." Lexa's lips brushed against the shell of Clarke's ear as she spoke, her voice low and rough, rounding out the consonants in Clarke's name as she often did when they were alone. "Breathe, and be the connection between the earth and the bow. In…and out."

"In…"

"…and out."

Lexa's right hand slid down Clarke's side, and she flattened it to lay it gently over Clarke's belly. Something pleasant wound its way through Clarke underneath Lexa's touch, but she pushed down on that feeling, zeroing in on the air filling her lungs in time to her lover's voice as her eyes locked onto the knot in the tree trunk.

"In…"

"…and out."

"In…"

"…and out."

"In…and draw."

Clarke drew her arm back, pulling the bowstring taut until it pressed against her cheek.

"Out…"

Clarke exhaled slowly, and at the end of the breath everything stilled. There was only the knot of the tree and the point of the arrowhead.

"Now, ai niron," Lexa whispered. 

Clarke loosed the bowstring and let the arrow fly, watching as it sped across the river…

…and buried itself into the center of the knot on the tree.

She yelped in happy celebration, flinging both arms up into the air, jumping up and whirling around within Lexa's embrace. Lexa looked at her with such an overwhelming look of fierce pride, laughing with unfettered happiness that overwhelmed Clarke.

Clarke dropped the bow, ignoring the clatter it made on the rock as she stepped further into the circle of Lexa's arms, where her hands had come to rest on her back and hip. Clarke's eyes locked with Lexa's as she laid one hand atop the armor covering Lexa's chest, her other rising to Lexa's face, her thumb brushing over the brunette's lower lip, tracing the curve of her smile before caressing her jawline. 

"You're beautiful when you smile," Clarke breathed.

"It's because of you that I do."

Words failed them and their bodies took over, one heart calling to another in celebration. Neither knew who leaned forward to close the final distance, but their lips found each other's, pressing softly at first, but then with growing urgency as the spark within their hearts caught, erupting into pure desire.

Their hands fumbled hastily with buckles and clasps as they shed their weapons and pieces of armor, dropping them at their feet and trading hungry kisses. Clarke's hands slipped under Lexa's shirt, fingers skimming up along the smooth planes of her stomach and ribs, fingertips trailing up and down the heated skin of her back. She tugged upwards, quickly lifting the garment over Lexa's head before returning to claim her lips in another lingering kiss. Lexa's hands found the buttons of Clarke's shirt by touch and when it fell away, the Commander's hands roamed the newly exposed skin with a hunger that matched that of the kisses between them.

Lexa broke apart from the kiss as Clarke's fingers pulled on the laces at the front of her pants. The brunette's hands covered the blonde's, slowing her movements with a hushed whisper.

"Wait, niron." Her eyes held Clarke's in a smoldering promise as she quickly kneeled to loosen the clasps on her boots, kicking them off as her hands made quick work of the laces at her waist and her pants joined the pile of clothes at her feet. The corners of her lips curved upwards in a daring smile as she unwrapped the binding that covered her chest, and then hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her undershorts, drawing them down her legs as until she stepped out of them. 

Then she stood naked in front of Clarke, eyes the same deep green as a twilight forest, pupils blown with desire, a faint sheen of sweat glistening on her sun kissed skin. Surely, she saw the way Clarke's eyes roamed her lithe body, starved with want at the sight of her.

Again, Lexa smiled--almost wickedly--and turned, heading for the river, her intricate braids brushing over her naked back and the top of the tattoo that ran along her spine. "Come, niron. The…water…will feel good."

"Tease," Clarke muttered, rushing to rid herself of the last of her clothing. She stared after Lexa, transfixed as she stepped confidently into the water, using a pair of steps weather-worn into the rock to enter the pool, ducking under the surface briefly before re-emerging.

Clarke followed Lexa's steps into the river. When the mountain-chilled water hit her flushed skin she nearly gasped, but she too ducked beneath the slow-moving surface for a moment, quickly getting her body used to the slight chill. When she resurfaced, Lexa was waiting for her. Droplets traced down the graceful lines of the grounder woman's throat and shoulders, and Clarke's mouth ached to trace their path with her tongue.

Here, in this place, in this moment, there was no one to stop them, to hold them back from this ecstasy. So she surrendered to the impulse, reclaiming Lexa with her hands, drawing the other woman against her. 

Lexa's sharp intake of breath at the feeling of their bare skin coming into contact lowered into a moan as Clarke's mouth followed the path of the droplets, tracking their random paths over Lexa's skin with kisses and gentle nips of her teeth. Lexa's fingers curled into Clarke's hair when the sky girl found a particularly sensitive spot just beside the dip of her collarbone, and Clarke smiled smugly against her lover's honeyed skin.

As she reveled in the sensation of Clarke's mouth on her skin, Lexa's hands slipped below the water. She began by caressing Clarke's back and sides in slow circles, moving to larger touches looping higher along her belly until the pads of her fingertips traced the lower curve of Clarke's cleavage. When Lexa's hands fully cupped the swell of Clarke's breasts, it was the blonde that broke the kisses she had been sprinkling along the plane of Lexa's upper chest, and she rested her forehead against the warrior's shoulder with a groan. Her body surrendered to Lexa's touch, instinct driving her to push further into Lexa's sword-calloused hands in yearning as the heat pooling low in her belly grew more insistent. 

Lexa dropped a kiss to the sodden blonde hair within reach of her mouth as she gently squeezed, skimming her thumbs over the stiff peaks of Clarke's nipples. The motion earned her a low, smoky-voiced moan from the woman pressed against her, and when she did it again Clarke's hands flew to her shoulders, hanging on for support as her lips claimed Lexa's in another superheated kiss.

The water babbled quietly in the background, rippling against their entwined bodies as their hands explored one another, murmured sighs and moans swallowed up in eager kisses.

When Clarke began mirroring the movements of Lexa's hands with her own, driving the warrior to a growing height of ecstasy, Lexa tensed, and then shifted. With a frustrated growl she dropped her hands to the back of Clarke's thighs, lifting her effortlessly against her body and gently carrying her a few steps to where the smooth rock formed a wide, bench-like ledge just underneath the shallower water's surface. Clarke screwed her eyes shut as she wrapped her legs around Lexa's waist, the motion of Lexa's movements causing friction as her core brushed against Lexa's stomach. Lexa gently set Clarke down on the rock bench, leaning forward for another hungry kiss as the water lapped at the bottom of Clarke's thighs.

Clarke submitted to pleasure as Lexa teased her way down her body. The brunette paused to suck gently at the slope of her breasts, tongue eagerly lashing at the peak of her nipples one by one, driven to even greater heights of desire as her lover's scent clung to her skin. Lexa dragged her tongue on slow circles, ripping another low groan from Clarke before ducking down, continuing her trail of kisses down the soft curve of her belly.

Clarke's ecstatic cry echoed off of the trees the moment Lexa's mouth found its way from the soft skin of her inner thigh to the apex of her center. It began with a reverent kiss, intensifying as her lover's skillful tongue teased through her silk-slick folds. She was incredibly attentive, eagerly listening to the noises Clarke was making and using that as a guide to give her even greater sensation. The flat of Lexa's tongue laved against Clarke's most sensitive peak, and the hot coil of pleasurable tension wound tighter, spreading from her belly and winding its way through her body. Lexa's hands slid slowly up and down her legs, alternatively soothing with the flat of her palms, and lightly scratching trails of fire with her fingertips against the sensitive skin.

Her eyes flickered down, and the sight of Lexa between her thighs only increased that tension, and Clarke gently rocked her hips into the intimate contact between them. Lexa's resulting hum of pleasure against her core triggered an answering moan from Clarke. At the sound, Lexa's eyes snapped open, locking onto Clarke's. The look of blazing devotion Clarke found in her gaze was too much, and she tipped her head back with a low keening whimper, her hands flying up to Lexa's temples, fingers threading into the river-damp braids.

A roaring noise joined the sound of the rushing river in Clarke's ears, and she felt the precipice of the ecstasy building within her approach rapidly. As much as she wanted to fling herself into that white-hot promise of bliss, she held herself back, canting her hips to ease away from Lexa's mouth. 

Lexa looked up in a brief flash of confusion, her wide eyes dark and muddled with passion. The water glimmered and danced over the planes of muscle and whorls of ink that traced over her back and arm, and when she licked her gleaming lower lip, Clarke squirmed in pleasant reaction to the sight. 

Lexa's voice was low and ragged with longing. "Clarke, what--"

"Beja, Lexa." Clarke's hand traced the proud line of her beloved's jawline, fingers and eyes communicating a wordless plea. "Together. I need you."

Lexa surged forward from the river, the water coming to just above mid-thigh as she pressed close against Clarke, who slid forward on the ledge to meet her. The feel of naked skin satisfied their cravings for one another for a moment, but only briefly. Lexa's fingertips traced paths from the curve of Clarke's hips to her center, and Clarke's own hand found Lexa more than ready for her own gratifying caress.

They fit together seamlessly as each filled the other, rocking back and forth in an effortless tidal surge of desire. Pleasure was freely given and taken, both of them speaking the wordless physical language shared by lovers since the beginning of time. Every attentive stroke was a vow, every kiss an affirmation, every patient touch a celebration. One soul called to its mate, and their flesh exulted.

It was too much for Clarke to hold or resist, and she felt the first ripples of her climax tremble through her legs as she wrapped them around Lexa's waist. "Lexa…"

Lexa leaned back slightly, her eyes drinking in the sight of Clarke on the edge, and then she leaned forward, her eyes searching Clarke's just before she pressed her forehead to her lover's, whispering against her lips, trembling with the effort of keeping her own body from unraveling into bliss.

"Let go, Klark. Ai hod yu in."

They fell together, shattering against the absolute euphoria rushing to envelop them, driven by the feeling of being surrounded and filled by one another. They shouted their release to the summer sky, and the river witnessed the way they collapsed against each other at the end, clinging tightly as if they never wanted to let one another go.

The two lovers returned to the world slowly. Lexa's hand idly rubbed small, soothing circles over the angle of Clarke's shoulder blades, pressing soft kisses to the crown of Clarke's head where it had fallen against her shoulder. Clarke in turn nuzzled up under Lexa's chin, kissing the soft, sensitive spot just underneath the hinge of her jaw.

"Ai hod yu in, Leksa, otaim," she murmured, shifting slightly to meet Lexa's lips with her own. 

Lexa could not resist smiling into the kiss, laughter building in her chest as her heart overflowed with the purest sense of joy and contentment she had ever felt.

\-----  
Translations:

Sha= Yes  
Natblida= Nightbloods  
Ai niron= my love  
Beja= Please  
Ai hod yu in= I love you  
"Ai hod yu in, Leksa, otaim,"= I love you, Lexa, always


	3. The Ritual

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Words to etch the love they share on their hearts, and ink to etch the vows upon their skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments, critiques, everything and anything welcome in the comments. You can find me on tumblr @msmayhem1515

The fire blazed high, casting off a wave of heat and pushing back the fall evening's chill. 

Lexa poked idly at the logs glowing sun-yellow underneath the flames with a sturdy stick. She lifted a rough-hewn wooden cup to her lips with her free hand as she did so, swallowing a mouthful of the honey wine it held before setting it beside her. The logs popped and snapped, sending a spray of sparks up into the night sky where they winked like amber fireflies. Lexa tilted her chin up, watching them dance upwards until they faded amongst the diamond-bright field of stars overhead. 

"Lexa, I need your help."

The Commander turned slightly, watching over her shoulder as Clarke walked over to the bench--really a thick tree trunk split in half and laid on the ground--that Lexa rested on. Lexa's eyes roamed warmly over Clarke. The sky girl was dressed simply, in soft-woven pants and simple hide moccasins on her feet. She had thrown a cloak of thick wolf fur over her shoulders for warmth, and one hand held the edges of it closed while the other peeked out from the gap, grasping a small clay pot.

Lexa's lips curved upwards in a gentle smile. She slid the cup towards the end of the bench and patted the space next to her invitingly "Sha, come here, Clarke."

Clarke returned the smile gratefully, and sat astride the bench with one leg on either side, facing Lexa. Setting the clay pot between them she loosened her hold on the cloak, letting it drop off of her right shoulder. She wore a soft-spun sleeveless night shirt underneath. Below the edge of the shoulder hem of her shirt, red-rimmed lines of a freshly-inked tattoo stood out on her pale skin. Tracing from the ball of her shoulder to her elbow, the black lines emulated the shape of a tree branch, adorned with leaves and flowers. It seemed to arc and stretch, and some of the offshoots tapered off, as if they were meant to be matched against another neighboring tree.

Lexa's gaze traced the elegant linework with a practiced eye. It was flawless, a clear mark laden with meaning, but not detracting from the flawless beauty of the woman it was inked upon. Her eyes drank in every detail as she took up the clay pot, removing the lid and scooping up some of the pleasant-smelling salve with her fingertips. She waited a few moments, making sure that the heat from her skin warmed the salve before she leaned forward slightly, softly smearing the balm onto the lines of Clarke's tattoo. Her touch was light and soothing as she rubbed in small circles, working the healing balm into her beloved's skin. Clarke reached behind her with her free hand, picking up Lexa's cup and taking a slow sip. She licked her upper lip, her eyes narrowing in mirthful teasing. 

"How much of this have you had?"

Lexa laughed. "Enough to feel warm," she replied playfully. She worried at her lower lip with her teeth for a moment as her fingers dipped into the pot for more of the balm before returning to Clarke's skin. "Does it hurt still?" she asked, eyes searching Clarke's face. 

"Not really…" Clarke hummed as the pads of Lexa's fingertips massaged a spot where the branch followed the line of her tricep. "It's like you said; there is such thing as a good hurt." Lexa's smile widened as pride bloomed in her heart. Clarke's eyes flickered to Lexa's left arm, which was covered with the sleeve of her loose-fitting shirt. "How's yours?"

Underneath the cloth covering her arm, Lexa could feel the full, but not unpleasant, throb of the new tattoo that wound its way down her upper arm. Though it was covered from view, her mind's eye could trace the pattern of the tree branch inked there. It was the match to Clarke's, so that when they stood side by side the leaves and branches would appear to entwine, as if from the same living oak. It was a symbol of vibrant life in full bloom as well as strength--a clear testament to their love and commitment to one another.

It had been Clarke's vision, first confessed in the quiet hours after sunset when they'd lain quietly in bed together, listening to the sound of their whispered hopes amid the steady rhythm of their heartbeats in the still night. When Lexa had explained the ritual, and the meaning behind it, Clarke's desire to see it through only increased. Her artist's talent brought that whispered promise to life in charcoal on paper, carefully agonizing over every line, every detail until it was perfect. Lexa had arranged for the best Trikru limner to meet the two of them at the designated place, and entrusted a copy of Clarke's design into his masterful hands.

They'd traveled to the agreed upon location after a few days' ride, amongst the ancient groves considered most sacred to the long line of Commanders. The upward-reaching trunks of the giant trees had been their cathedral, their refuge, and their witnesses, as they repeated the words of the bonding ritual, pledging themselves to one another.

A short walk through the groves took them to a small clearing among the trees, where the master limner and his apprentice greeted them formally, waiting next to a small lodge made of bowed pine saplings and stretched hide. When the two women entered, they found it was heated by fire-warmed stones and full of fragrant smoke from bundles of sweet-smelling herbs placed atop them. The only other fixtures in the lodge were two soft cushions of fur bedding arranged end to end, so that when Clarke and Lexa laid down upon them, they lay head to head. The master limner and his apprentice entered soon after and set to their task, inking the lovers' vows upon their skin.

The heady mix of emotions and endorphins, combined with the rhythmic tapping of the limner's needles and the pleasant warmth of the air lulled Lexa into a feeling of pleasant lassitude. But her thoughts were with Clarke, and she reached out, clasping Clarke's hand in her own, rubbing her thumb against her Skayon's knuckles as they were marked for each other.

Hours later the limners had finished, cleaning and packing away their tools, offering their blessings and well wishes to Heda and Wanheda with deep bows before departing the clearing. 

"Lexa? Is everything alright?"

Clarke's question broke Lexa out of her reverie. "Sha, houmon. Just remembering how we got these…" Lexa smiled softly, dabbing a little more of the balm onto the ends of Clarke's tattoo.

"Houmon…" Clarke repeated the word, letting the syllables carefully roll over her lips. "I don't know if I'll ever get used to how happy hearing that word makes me feel." Her gaze sought Lexa's and she grinned as their eyes met. "I am your houmon, Leksa kom Trikru."

"As I am your houmon, Klark kom Skaikru." Lexa smiled, feeling far too content to care about how silly the exchange might have seemed to anyone else. She put the lid back on the clay pot, setting it aside before she lifted the edge of the cloak back over Clarke's shoulder.

"I love seeing your smile," Clarke murmured, tapping her fingers against the side of the cup still in her hand. "I am glad that it is not as rare as it used to be." She hid her own smile behind the lip of the cup as she drank the remainder of the wine. Her eyes glittered with contentment, the light of the fire illuminating the planes of her face. 

Honesty born of trust and love allowed Lexa to give voice to the emotions that bubbled up within her like a new spring. "I had few reasons to smile before you came to me, Clarke. Then you kissed me, and it was like I awakened from a long sleep, and I could live again. And I feel now as if I could never get enough of this joy." She looked up at Clarke almost shyly, her eyes soft and vulnerable. 

Color rose in Clarke's cheeks. "Come to bed, Lexa. I would like to make you smile more…" Clarke rose to her feet, offering her hand to Lexa, their fingers tangling together as they crossed the short distance to the warm tent not far from the fire. 

Lexa laughed openly, proud and unreserved in her love and happiness. Here, with her wife, she was free. Free to love, to smile, to laugh, to embrace every emotion. And she held nothing back, beaming as brightly as the stars in the sky above. 

\-----  
Translations:

Skayon= Sky woman/person  
Houmon= spouse, wife


End file.
